Celebrated contemporary artist Ryan McNamara will stage ME?M 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet at the Miami Grand Theater at Castle Beach Resort, the former Playboy theater, during Art Basel's show in Miami Beach. A choreographic exploration of the online world, the work is a Performa Commission, presented by Art Basel, and produced by Performa and Art Basel. The performance will take place at 8pm and 10.30pm on Wednesday, December 3 and Thursday, December 4, with a by-invitation performance on Tuesday December 2.

ME?M 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet presents an interpretation of the layered architecture of the internet and the infinite streams of information that pour through its portals onto our laptops and smart phones. Exploring how we share content and process information, McNamara samples and remixes music and movement within an inventively staged environment that reflects the dense layers of our digital landscape. The performance creates a physical analogue of the cluttered nature of the digital realm, and the frequency and speed with which material is copied, created, appropriated, repeated, plagiarized, mined, projected and passed on.

The ballet engages multiple narratives – the internet as a utopic space of unfettered and open global communication and self-creation, as sinister military infrastructure, and as motor for a round-the-clock infotainment culture. A fully immersive experience that questions the very possibility of a singular, individual 'experience', the performance plays with abrupt changes in pacing, music, and choreographic styles – from classical to contemporary – mirroring the close proximity different modes of spectacle now have to one another. Created as a Performa Commission for the 2013 Performa Biennial in New York City, the work premiered to critical acclaim and was awarded the second Malcolm McLaren Award as the most innovative and thought-provoking performance of Performa 13. For its Miami Beach premiere, the artist will debut a new and expanded iteration, incorporating additional performers and content.

I saw Ryan's stunning performance at the Performa Biennale in New York last November and was astounded by the way in which ME?M redefines the audience experience, making physical the virtual experience of link-clicking, and simultaneously incorporating many decades and styles of dance,' says Marc Spiegler, Director Art Basel. 'A few weeks later, when I first walked into the Miami Grand Theater, l thought it could be a perfect setting for a next edition of ME?M. This Performa commission continues our strong history of presenting and supporting performance and live art, which includes 2009's Il Tempo del Postino and last summer's 14 Rooms. And we are delighted to once again collaborate with Performa!Ryan’s work has a way of revealing to us the way that we see and feel when we sit in front of a performance, or in front of a computer for that matter,' says RoseLee Goldberg, Founding Director and Curator of Performa. 'This piece is far more complex than it first appears, because it unfolds as one surprise after another. The viewer is both totally in the moment and yet spends hours thinking about it afterwards, piecing together what it is that one just witnessed.

ME?M 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet is Art Basel’s second collaboration with Performa and will be presented at the Miami Grand Theater at Castle Beach Resort, 5445 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida 33140.

Production support in Miami has been provided through a partnership with YoungArts.

Tickets are $30. For further information and to book, please visit artbasel.com/miamibeach/meem4miami.

On Thursday, December 4, at 4pm, Ryan McNamara will be in conversation with the art historian and critic Claire Bishop. The talk is part of Art Basel's Salon program and will take place in the auditorium in Hall C of the Miami Beach Convention Center.